Chris’s Pick
February 2014
The Golem and the Jinni
Helene Wecker, Hardcover: 486 pages
The Friends challenged me to review a love story this month, it being Valentine-February. My first response was that I generally do not read love stories—at least I do not seek them out…. But then I remembered one of my favorite books of the past year: The Golem and the Jinni. Weird and wonderful, inventive, magical, and yes, a love story, this is Helene Wecker’s first novel. She has managed to satisfy all that I look for in a great read: beautifully drawn characters, historical references, and writing so thoughtful it makes you consider The Questions in life. What does it mean to be human? Are we living or merely existing? Are we living to our full capacity? Any book that can stop you in your tracks, that can force you into awareness, takes my breath away. For those of you who love a synopsis, here is one I lifted from “Goodreads”:
(This is) the dazzling tale of two supernatural creatures who appear mysteriously in 1899 New York. Chava is a golem, a creature made of clay, brought to life by a strange man who dabbles in dark Kabbalistic magic. When her master dies at sea on the voyage from Poland, she is unmoored and adrift as the ship arrives in New York Harbor. Ahmad is a jinni, a being of fire, born in the ancient Syrian Desert. Trapped in an old copper flask by a Bedouin wizard centuries ago, he is released accidentally by a tinsmith in a Lower Manhattan shop. Though he is no longer imprisoned, Ahmad is not entirely free – an unbreakable band of iron binds him to the physical world. The Golem and the Jinni is their magical, unforgettable story; unlikely friends whose tenuous attachment challenges their opposing natures – until the night a terrifying incident drives them back into their separate worlds. But a powerful threat will soon bring Chava and Ahmad together again, challenging their existence and forcing them to make a fateful choice.
There is a fairy-tale quality to the story that is charming, but it is also a serious, literary work. Wecker uses folklore to give us a history of two very different cultures, and uses her fanciful characters to describe the immigrant experience, offering a fascinating look at New York at the turn of the century. I loved this book because it was so different from anything I have read in years. I do highly recommend The Golem and the Jinni as February’s, or any month’s, love story.